mono – Preservation Sound

1957: A Few Bits From The End Of The Mono Age

From some 1957 issues of “Radio and TV News,” an electronic-serviceman’s publication, comes this collection of American Hif-Fi home audio kit of the era. Notice the fact that… it’s all mono. Commercial recordings released on stereo magnetic tapes were available as early as 1954, but it was the release of the first -ever stereo LP record in November 1957 forever turned the tide towards two-channel ‘Stereo’ recordings as the norm for recorded musical performances/productions.

Heathkit! I have one of these A7s and damn it is a good-sounding little amp. Anyone have a spare they wanna sell me (for stereo…. naturally…)?

I tend to think of Newcomb as more of an industrial-sound/PA sound company, but it looks like they made some home units too. I have one of those huge glass-covered KX25 PA heads as shown here; it’s always been a little flakey but I can’t bring myself to part with it cos it came from a Catholic church and the knobs are labeled “Pulpit,” “Choir,” and “Sacrament Table.” Take that, Kick/Ld Vox/ Bckng Vox.

Dude went to prison in 1974 for lying about the value of a music-collection that he donated to a university. Tried to get Mancini and Bernstein to back him up and they would not. Life is long….

Electro-voice home hi-fi drivers c. 1957

Eico home hi-fi amps and pre-amps circa 1957. Eico was essentially the ‘other’ Heath(kit). Eicos could be purchased either wired or as kits. Here’s a two-page article on their flagship HF60, a beautiful amp with EL34 output tubes and an ultralinear Acrosound output transformer.

Mono Pilot Hi-Fi Console System circa 1955

From PS Dot Com reader C. McColm come these images of his original circa 1955 Pilot mono hi-fi system. I take C.M. at his word when he relates that there was a cult for Pilot in the 1950s; this website gets an unusual amount of traffic from individuals searching for, and reading, the few PILOT articles I have posted.

Pilotuners were made for a very long time, in many configurations; I’ve personally bought two in the past year alone. Complete 1950s hi-fi systems like C.M.s are rare these days for many reasons, not the least of which is the fact that many have been cut up and gutted for parts over the years. It can be hard to find the space to incorporate a unit like this in a modern domestic-space, but for anyone who enjoys listening to 1940s and 1950s recordings, I can’t imagine a better way to hear it than on a system like this.

C.M. relates:

‘ALL PILOT electronics; Pilotuner tuner/pre amp, Miracord Auto Turntable. Williamson Amp with a pair of Genelex KT66 tubes … Great sound: like you are really there. The Pilot pre amp tuner has adjustable AFC for the FM, EQ for the phono; roll-off and turnover frequencies and a setting for early 78s; if you have 78’s, you need this eq setting to hear them properly. The built-in speaker cabinet is ported and bass reproduction is clear and solid. The High end on the triaxial speaker is great also. Speaker is branded University Sound; (this was) a division of Altec. Huge speaker with L-pads for the mid and high frequency drivers.

‘ This console, with the original Goodmans Speaker, won 1st place in a hi-fi show in NY city. My friend’s Father assembled it .This turntable has a Magnetic cartridge . A lot of systems then were (considered) hi-end if they had a Magnetic phono input . It has both LP and 78 needles switch-able without removal.’

‘This set sat inoperative for a long time . (I performed) a complete cabinet restoration, replaced a fuse, and cleaned the controls. This set really gets the job done. Pilot was really HI END; it was not as popular as Fisher or Marantz or Scott. People in the know knew about this stuff.’

See this link and this link for previous PILOT coverage on Preservation Sound.